Canada delivers deportee into arms of abusive Algerian secret police: watchdogs

Posted by admin on Dec 17th, 2009

Wed Dec 16 By Sue Bailey And Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press

MONTREAL – Canada deported a refugee to face a notoriously abusive intelligence service in Algeria where he was questioned under duress and denied a lawyer, say international justice watchdogs. A United Nations working group says former Montrealer Mourad Ikhlef, removed to Algeria under a national security certificate, was jailed and interrogated in breach of basic legal principles. Amnesty International found Ikhlef was held incommunicado and was refused counsel after Canada handed him over six years ago.

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Security cameras here to stay, critic says

Posted by admin on Dec 9th, 2009

Frank Luba, The Province, Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Micheal Vonn, policy director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, does not believe Vancouver’s 100 new closed-circuit television cameras will be shelved after the conclusion of the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. Installation of the cameras at various downtown locations was announced Monday afternoon by the city and will take place over the next two months. The cameras are set to go live Feb. 1 and be shut down March 28.

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U.S., Canada will share refugee fingerprints

Posted by admin on Nov 24th, 2009

November 24, 2009, CBC News

The United States says it will join Canada, Australia and Britain in sharing fingerprints and other data to help authorities discern people’s true identities in cracking down on asylum shopping and unlawful immigration. The program would allow governments to ferret out fraudulent refugee claimants by using fingerprinting and other methods to get details about identity, nationality, travel and immigration history. Canada and the U.S. conducted a trial run two years ago in which authorities exchanged fingerprints on 343 refugee claimants.

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Lawyers for Sri Lankan migrants grill terrorism expert

Posted by admin on Nov 20th, 2009

Wendy Stueck, Globe and Mail, Friday, Nov. 20, 2009

Lawyers for Sri Lankan migrants whose ship landed on the West Coast last month grilled Singapore-based terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna Thursday on his claims about the men, questioning his sources, connections to the Sri Lankan government and the reliability of the information that he publishes on a terrorism database.

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Refugee Rights and Wrongs: From Persecution in Sri Lanka to Detention in Canada

Posted by admin on Nov 1st, 2009

Thursday November 12, 6-9 pm. SFU Harbour Centre, Rm 1315. 515 West Hastings St, Vancouver

Concerned about the rise of racist, anti-immigrant sentiments since the recent arrival of 76 Tamil refugees on Vancouver shores? Unsure about what’s going on in Sri Lanka and the connections of the Canadian government to the war abroad? Curious about the ongoing changes Jason Kenney has been making to Canada’s immigration system? No One is Illegal-Vancouver invites you to an informative discussion regarding The Ocean Lady and its consequences for those concerned with migrant justice in Canada.

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